thieves' cards
by Ten-Faced
Summary: Two legends in the twisted and weird world of thieves meet each other in a purple wheat field, of all things. Phantom, meet Kaitou KID.
1. Phantom I

A/N: What, so no one's thought about two white-dressed thieves with cards as their most famous form of defense meeting each other?

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_thieves's cards_

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**Phantom I**

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Phantom was pretty sure this was all a dream. For one thing, he had been sitting on the deck of the Lumiere and there was no way he'd have teleported to . . . to wherever he was. Wherever they had a weird plain of nothing except waist-length plants that looked an awful lot like wheat dyed a sickly purple.

But if this really was reality instead of some twisted dream his PTSD brain had come up with, if this was Luminous trying to get at him for flirting with Mercedes, Phantom swore the hero magician was going to be sleeping with the fishes when he got back.

"Where am I?"

Excellent question, that was, and one that also haunted his mind; only, it was not his voice giving voice to that inquiry.

Phantom turned around and was met with the peculiar sight of a boy. Seventeen years old, maybe, with black hair and indigo eyes, the youth was dressed in a white suit, his shoulders covered with a white mantle. A monocle with a charm dangling on a cord was placed over one eye and a top hat on his head made him appear taller than he really was. The only splash of bright colour happened to be his blue button-up shirt and blood-red tie, both colours that should have clashed terribly with each other but only ended up looking sophisticated and tasteful in total.

His conclusion? The boy evidently had good taste.

"Hello there," he said, voice courteous and polite.

The boy looked at him. "Hello. Would you happen to know what this place is?"

"Afraid not," Phantom replied. "One moment I'm on my ship looking at the moon and the next thing I know I find myself here. Ah, but I'm being rude. My name is Phantom."

"Phantom?" the boy asked, curiosity in his voice. "Is that like a nickname or something?"

"Of a sort," he answered, because while that was what everyone called him, it hadn't been his birth name. "You see, I'm a thief."

The boy didn't react harshly like most would have; he only nodded. "Well, I'm the Kaitou KID."

"Is _that_ like a nickname or something?" Phantom asked the same question the boy had asked him.

"More like a title," he said. "It's based on the International Criminal number – but that's a long story."

"International Criminal?" Phantom kept his voice light, but his grip on his staff tightened. Having recently awakened from his hundred-year curse thing, he still had much to catch up on in the Maple World. While he hadn't heard anything about a 'Kaitou KID', this boy was telling him that he was an international criminal. With his casualness, Phantom guessed that he thought himself capable of taking anything on.

"Mm," the boy flashed him a smile full of mischief, one that startled Phantom – though he didn't show it – with its familiarity.

And of course it was familiar to his eyes. After all, he saw the same smile on his own face every time he looked into a mirror after a successful heist of his. "You see," the Kaitou KID said. "I'm a thief, too."


	2. Kaitou KID I

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_thieves's cards_

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**Kaitou KID I**

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Kaito mentally cursed Koizumi Akako with every swear word the Inspector had ever called him during heists. Not that he knew for sure that the redheaded witch was the person behind this, but she would be the only one twisted enough to stuff him into a dream – and what could this be but a dream of some sort? He knew that he had just gotten home after stealing the Sterling Sapphire – taking place in a setting that was basically a never-ending purple wheat field.

_A purple wheat field_. Why. Was she trying to tell him that if the two of them ever had babies, their eye colour would be purple?

Kaito kicked at one of the plants, making a face. The poor hypothetical baby, stuck with such a sickly coloured iris. Even Hakuba had better luck than that.

"Where am I?" he wondered aloud. He didn't really expect the question to be answered.

It came as a surprise when someone called back. "Hello there."

Kaito, in full KID regalia for some reason unknown to him, saw a strangely dressed man who looked a few years older than him. Like him, the man wore white formal clothes that belonged in another time period, but that was where the similarities ended. His white clothes had golden ornaments that made the total ensemble look more like a general's or a captain's, and his slacks were brown. His hat was quite oddly shaped, with a bunch of blue feathers at the side and some kind of blue fabric trailing behind him.

And he had thought he stuck out in a crowd. The man looked like he had stepped right out of a cosplay convention. Or frequently shopped at where Akako bought her witch clothes. Either worked.

If this young man happened to be a figment of his imagination, he was going to sprinkle salt around his home. "Hello. Would you happen to know what this place is?" he asked the blond man.

"Afraid not," the older man replied. "One moment I'm on my ship looking at the moon and the next thing I know I find myself here."

Oh, so he was a captain of some sort. Maybe a luxury cruise ship, or someone dressed for a cosplay convention on board. He didn't know the exact details – ships always somehow meant fish to him.

The man whose name he didn't know seemed to realize that he hadn't introduced himself. "Ah, but I'm being rude. My name is Phantom."

No way in hell was the name 'Phantom' this guy's real name. Was he being cautious? Wise, in the presence of a stranger. He would do good to follow his example, but in the meantime, it would only be polite to answer him. "Phantom?" he said, and added, "Is that like a nickname or something?"

"Of a sort," Phantom answered vaguely. "You see, I'm a thief."

And suddenly things became clear as daylight. The clothes that practically snatched attention from everything else and glued it to him. The sophisticated yet almost casual way of talking that was smooth and pleasant overall. With the name, it should have all been clear to him at that instant. Of course. Another phantom thief. Granted, the name 'Phantom' wasn't very creative for a phantom thief, but he supposed it was the classics this man was after. Something like 'Shadow'. 'Raven'. 'Night'. "Well, I'm the Kaitou KID."

Phantom didn't seem familiar with the name. "Is _that_ like a nickname or something?"

Kaito began to think that his imagination was out of whack. Everyone in this world knew who the Kaitou KID was! But apparently his imagination had decided that while in this obviously-a-bad-dream-of-a-sort he had to deal with explaining what power the name of 'KID' wielded to someone who had absolutely no idea who the Magician under the Moonlight was. And he claimed to be a thief.

"More like a title," he explained. "It's based on the International Criminal number – but that's a long story."

"International Criminal?" Phantom's voice was light, but there was a subtle change in his body language. Kaito could just notice his slight shift in stance, his entire being changing to appear loose while being ready to leap, flee or attack at any moment. His face was masked by a perfect poker face.

Kaito was impressed. If he didn't know what to look for, he wouldn't have noticed anything. Even if this guy was a bit behind on current events (by at least twenty years) Phantom was obviously a pro, good at hiding what he truly thought or felt behind a mask of iron.

Time to test the hopefully fish-free waters. "Mm," he flashed his trademark smirk. "You see," Kaito said, this time weighing his words with not only Kuroba Kaito's but also Kaitou KID's essence. "I'm a thief, too."


	3. Phantom II

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_thieves's cards_

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**Phantom II**

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This 'Kaitou KID' had to be lying.

Phantom had the best analyst in the whole world working for him. He had state-of-the-art technology so new and shiny they made it seem like he had never fallen into a time-freezing curse for a few centuries. He had built up his level until he was near reaching his past formidable self.

And, most importantly, Phantom had scoped out his competition. If any thief in the Maple World had so much as been reported to have acted in a flamboyant way that was a poor imitation of his own methods he would have seen their name or alias on the master list his analyst constantly updated for him.

Kaitou KID was not a name on that list – he had memorized the latest edition, he knew that as well as he knew the Crystal Garden. Therefore there was no way this . . . this _kid_ in front of him could be an International Criminal Thief.

He was, however, clearly a very talented young man. If only that young boy, Evan, had some more control like KID did.

"Ah," he said a second or so after KID's strange response, his tone polite and bland. "Mind me inquiring about your preferred area of action?"

"I don't mind," KID replied, equally polite. Then his face changed to become that of a mischievous boy's. "But there's no guarantee of me telling you the truth, is there?"

Phantom felt like he should have expected that. Perhaps he did – after all, he didn't feel any surprise at the statement. "What, no swearing it to the phantom thief's honour?" he asked in a voice so dry and serious it was mocking. "Shame, KID, shame."

"It's nothing personal," he replied, just as somber and businesslike that it was all too obvious that he was joking. "Just work, and profit. I'm sure you understand."

He had a point there.

"Besides, not much of a secret, is it?"

"Meaning?"

KID regarded him for a long time. "Have you been in a coma or something recently?"

"Of a sort." Phantom didn't diverge the fact that he had cached himself up on current affairs, nor the fact that he had still never heard of Kaitou KID during his recovery. The KID was too good at his Poker Face to be a mere fraud or a petty thief, yet there was still something off here. "Am I missing something?"

KID brooded on a thought for a moment. "Not much, I suppose," he said at last. "How long have you been in your 'coma-of-a-sort'?"

The exact date? Even he didn't know that. "Far too long."

KID scrutinized him and Phantom knew what he was thinking; KID thought that he was lying.

Well, he wasn't the only one.

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Cool fact: Phantom's voice actor for the KMS animated videos is the same man that voices Kaitou KID in the Korean dub of the anime. He also voices Danny from the Korean version of Danny Phantom.


End file.
